


Chrysalis

by Dabberdees



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Granddad and Granddaughter because there are not enough fics with these two, Human Experimentation, The Doctor and Ryan aren't in it yet, graham is there as well and he deserves a treat, not inhumans but like ya know winkyface, you ever think "you know what yaz deserves? a superpower" and then you give her one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29846826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dabberdees/pseuds/Dabberdees
Summary: Stolen from the café, the Doctor asked them to check out; Yaz and Graham are taken across the stars in a ship filled with others like them. With no knowledge of where they are or where the Doctor is, they can only rely on themselves to get out of this predicament.
Relationships: Yasmin Khan & Graham O'Brien
Comments: 11
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

"Yaz, love," Graham sighs for the umpteenth time. "Sit down before you wear a hole into the fall, would ya?" Yaz turns and faces him, her brows forced together in frustration. "Pacing back and forth like a caged tiger ain't gonna make the Doc and Ryan get to us any faster."

"I can't just sit around and do nothing, Graham," Yaz retorts, letting her frustration bleed into her voice. "The Doctor wouldn't sit around and do nothing; she'd figure it out and escape."

Graham places his index fingers on his temples and takes in a calming breath, eyes closing as he does it. Oh, he's been snapped at before, plenty of times, and he totally gets why Yaz is snappy. She hates not being able to do anything, but, and it's a big but, Graham is also frustrated. Whatever they drank knocked them for six, and it feels like he's nursing a hangover from hell, and that's not to mention the uncomfortable puncher hole in their necks. An injection of some kind, if he had to guess

"Graham-"

He grunts in response because doing anything else spikes the ache in his head, body, and his everything else.

"-I'm sorry for snapping at you," Yaz murmurs as her body slumps down the wall opposite Graham. "I'm just frustrated and worried about her and Ryan; what if they're in another cell like this and they're waiting for us to rescue them?"

"You don't know that they are, and the last time we saw them, they were heading back to the TARDIS to trace that sample the Doc found," Graham cracks an eye open and stares at Yaz. "They ain't the ones locked in a concrete cell with a raging headache, cockle."

"You don't know that, though, Graham."

Graham exhales through his nose. "I'm tired, Yaz, and I ache in muscles I didn't know I had, so can we just put this aside for the moment or something?"

"It's still that bad?"

Graham waves a hand through the air to answer Yaz's question.

"Why?"

"If I knew, Yaz, I would know what to do about it, but I don't," Graham grunts before sighing. "Sorry, I'm a right arse when I have a doozy of a headache like this."

"No, it's fine, Graham, I understand; we just need to figure this out." Yaz glances around the cell like it holds the answer to their predicament. There's a door, a poor excuse for a light above them, the smell of rot or whatever was in the cell before they were, so all the useful stuff. She runs her hands down her face and tries to think what the Doctor would do.

Probably something with the sonic.

Which she doesn't have.

And that leads her back to square one again.

"I don't get it, Graham," Yaz states. "The same stuff knocked us out, but I feel-" She frowns. "-well, not fine, but not like you do."

"Do I really look that crap?" Graham mutters under his breath.

"I didn't say that."

Graham grunts once more and decides to close his eyes again. It helps, sorta, well, not really, but it feels like it helps. "Does it feel like you've been run over by a bus by your mate Dave 'cos he weren't looking where he was going-"

"That's oddly specific."

"Yeah, well-" Graham lifts his head and squints his eyes open. "-Dave is a prat."

"Oh," Yaz widens her eyes a tad, unsure on whether or not Graham is telling her the truth. "Uh, no, I haven't been hit by a bus."

"Well, it feels like that," Graham rests his head against the back wall. "This sucks."

Yaz peels herself from the wall she's lent against and shuffles towards Graham. "Can I check your temperature?" She waits for him to stick his thumb up before she reaches forward. The moment she does, she screws her brows together again. "You feel fine-"

"I don't feel fine."

"No, I mean-" Yaz leans back and settles herself down into a crossed-legged position. "With how sick you're feeling, I would've thought you would feel hot, but you don't; you just feel normal."

Graham opens his eyes fully and stares at Yaz. "Normal?"

"Yeah, like, not clammy or anything like that, I'm not a doctor-" The word causes her to pause, voice sticking in her throat for a moment. "-I mean, I am first aid trained, but I don't know why you feel like this."

Graham hums and sighs. "Maybe it just knocked me for six 'cos. I'm older?" He suggests. "You're stronger than I am-"

"Nonsense," Yaz pats Graham on the arm and flashes him a reassuring smile. "You're plenty strong."

"Uh-huh," Graham remains unconvinced. "I doubt that, cockle."

Yaz rubs her hands against her jeans. "Are you thirsty?"

"Nah," Graham answers. "Bit peckish, but when aren't I peckish?" He grins at her, forcing humour into the situation. "Shame I never brought something along with me this time, but in my defence, the Doc did say we weren't gonna be-"

"Shh," Yaz reaches out and motions for Graham to shut up.

"What?"

Yaz shoves him gently and shakes her head just before gesturing outside of the cell.

"Oh," Graham turns his attention to the door and frowns. "People." the young woman nods, and Graham turns his frown to her when she starts to cover him with her body. "Yaz, what are you doing?"

"I feel fine, Graham," Yaz grunts under her breath. "You don't-"

"So, tell me, what are you planning on doing exactly?" Graham asks the important question. "Gonna bring out your abilities in that Viennese kung fu the Doc is always going on about?"

"It's Venusian aikido, Graham."

"That's what I said."

"No, you didn't," Yaz exhales in annoyance. "And you're just distracting me."

"Is it working?"

Yaz turns and glares at Graham. "Graham, you're ill, and I'm feeling better than you do, so stop trying to distract me when whatever grabbed us is approaching our cell."

"Don't want you to get hurt, though," Graham mumbles under his breath. He looks at the door, wincing when it opens, letting in light from the corridor behind the towering figures stood within the doorway.

The light clears away as they enter, revealing what they look like to the two humans. Tall, with dark purple skin covered in a shiny chitin like armour. Antennae adorn their head, with beady eyes settled deep within their faces. They chitter to one another, gesturing at Yaz and Graham.

"Why can't we understand them?"

Yaz gently rests her hand on Graham's shoulder. "I don't know," She answers. "We should be able to, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah," Graham doesn't let this at all. "We still got those chip things, right?" Yaz nods, and that doesn't relieve Graham's worries at all. "Then we should be able to-"

"Be... quiet," One of the figures instructs as they fiddle with a device in the centre of their chest. "The lesser races are loud."

Graham quirks an eyebrow at that and starts to open his mouth. He glares at Yaz when she shakes her head at him. The aliens begin chittering again, and Graham and Yaz watch as they pull out two devices. They lean back when the two figures approach.

The closest alien gestures for Yaz to hold her hand out towards it.

"Yaz, get back-"

The alien gestures again, this time far more forcibly, and Yaz complies. She winces when the creature prods her finger, extracting some of her blood before stepping away again—the second figure motions for Graham to do the same.

It stings, but it's nothing Graham haven't felt before. He looks at his finger and wipes the spot of blood against his jeans. "Why you'd take our blood?"

"You think they're going to answer?" Yaz side eyes him. "They haven't looked up from their devices."

"Good point," Graham concedes. "You all right, cockle?" Yaz nods. "Good."

The figure that took Graham's blood grabs the other by the arm and shoves their device towards it. It chitters excitedly, and Graham feels suddenly very worried. The one that took Yaz's doesn't look nearly as thrilled as its friend does, but not disappointed in the least. They look down at Graham and Yaz and motion for the pair of them to get up.

Yaz stands first and reaches a hand down to Graham to pull him from the floor. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah," Graham nods. "Walking is fine; just feel sick, that's all."

"You will follow."

"Found your voice again?" Graham speaks without thinking. "Thought you were gonna ignore us after kidnapping us."

"We speak only to you," One of the aliens reveals as it shoves Graham through the open door. "No need to speak to each other like you do."

Yaz is shoved out next. Graham reaches for her, steadying her with a gentle hand. "We stay together, right? No matter what happens, we stay together."

They're shoved down the corridor and towards an open room with other people milling about in pens, crowded into them like animals. A thick wall of a glass-like substance separates each pen from one another.

Graham and Yaz look around in horror at the people within the cages. Different ages, men and women and children, are thrown together without care or reason, and Yaz can't stand that.

"What are you doing?" Yaz barks as she stops and turns to face their alien escorts. "Why do you have all these people in these cells?"

They look at Yaz and chitter amongst themselves before they shove her along again. She bristles at the treatment granted to her and Graham. People stare at them as they pass the cages, rows, and rows until they stop in front of one of the cells. Graham and Yaz watch the people within before looking upwards when a green coloured mist enters the small room.

The humans within scramble away from it like they have a chance to escape. Horror floods Graham and Yaz, and they rush towards the glass, banging against the pane like they could find a way inside.

"You're killing them!" Graham snaps at the aliens behind them. "Why?"

"Not... killing," One of them speaks. "Advancing them, the weak die, the strong survive," It says proudly. "The way of our people, the way yours should be, we are granting you a gift."

"By poisoning children?!" Yaz shouts, eyes wet with grief.

"No-" The two aliens grab Graham and Yaz and make them stare into the room, forcing them to watch as a few of the people inside fall to the floor dead while the others freeze, twitching as their bodies are encased in a substance that looks like webbing.

"What is happening to them?"

"The strong survive."

"The strong thrive."

Graham and Yaz find themselves yanked from the glass again and forced further down the cages before coming to a stop at an empty one. An opening appears in the glass pane, and before they know it, they have been thrown inside with the opening snapping shut behind them.

Yaz turns and hits the glass with her fist. She stares out of the window and into the cell opposite her, eyes connecting against the eyes of an older woman inside. The woman looks on sadly and shakes her head. 'You can't escape.' She mouths across the gap a few times so that Yaz has the chance to lip-read it. 'We have all tried.'

"There has to be a way out," Yaz speaks back to her. "Every cell has a way-" Her sentence trails off when the same mist as before begins filling up the cell in front of them, the woman she has her eyes locked on looks up, almost accepting her fate as she drops to the floor dead. "No-"

She looks around in terror at the other cells around them clicking on, mist piling inside and touching the humans within, killing some and covering others in the webbing.

Graham is next to her in a flash, his hands smacking against the glass in a futile display of defiance.

"We're going to die," Yaz blurts out, panic and fear filling her up. "We're going to die, and my parents and sister, they won't know-"

"Yaz," Graham turns and faces her, hands reaching for her shaking wrists. "We're not going to die-"

"How do you know?" Yaz shouts in terror. "They-" She looks around, memories flashing in her head from her ordeal with the Kasaavin and their realm. "-they won't know, Graham, none of them will-"

Graham stares at Yaz, and he can't reassure her; his words fail him in the one time he needs them. "I'm sorry-" His own fear overrides him, and he can't help but think about Ryan, alone in the world now because he went and got himself and Yaz killed. "-Yaz, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"

They stare at one another; terror displayed across their faces in a mirror of every human around them. Their heads snap up to the vent above them when it clicks on, filling the room in choking green mist.

The next thing they both know is darkness coiling around them, and finally-

Nothing.

Or that's what Yaz thought just before she jumps awake with a start, her chest heaving with breath that she can't grab.

"Hey, hey-" A strangers voice calls out to her. "-relax, love, you're among friends now, at least for a bit-"

Yaz blinks and looks around, frowning at the woman kneeling down next to her. She looks kind, if not alien in ways. "I-"

"Don't speak yet," The woman instructs. "Coming out of that blasted chrysalis knocks it out of anyone," She smiles kindly at Yaz. "My name is Olivia; what's yours?"

Yaz frown deepens at that. "Olivia?" She repeats, puzzlement overtaking her for a brief moment. "You don't really look like-"

"A human?" Olivia interjects with a small amount of annoyance. "Yeah, I know, I was a human, looked just like you, but now-" She gestures down her body. "-I got this, while you remained the same."

Yaz winces. "Oh, that was rude of me-"

Olivia sighs and shakes her head. "It wasn't," She settles herself into a crossed-legged position on the floor. "Compared to some of the people around here, you and I are some of the luckier ones."

"What happened?" Yaz questions as she rubs her head. "I was-" Her eyes widen, and she stares around at the other people milling about before looking towards the unconscious people dotted across the floor. "-I was with someone, a man, older than me, practically my grandad-"

Olivia glances around with Yaz. "How old?"

"Um," Yaz starts worrying in a flash. "He's about sixty, although he'll say he's still fifty-nine, grey hair, blue eyes," Olivia turns back to Yaz, her eyes suddenly filled with remorse. "What?"

"There is no one here who is that old," Olivia reveals. "I'm sorry-"

"No," Yaz shakes her head, grief running through her mind. How is she going to tell Ryan that Graham has died? How will he ever forgive her for surviving when his grandad didn't? "He can't be dead."

"Many of us didn't survive the transformation; if your friend was older, then there is a chance he didn't; I'm sorry."

Yaz stops listening to the woman in front of her. She grips onto her legs, pulling them to her chest as the ground beneath her starts to vibrate, causing Olivia to widen her eyes.

"I never caught your name," Olivia asks quickly. "What is it?"

Yaz tries to listen to her, but her guilt at living when Graham didn't makes it difficult to do so. "He's dead-"

"Hey-" Olivia spins around and calls out to others around her. "I need help here; she's lost someone-"

"I didn't get help when I woke up!" A male voice shouts across the room. "What makes her special?"

Olivia glares at the man. "The ability to rip this cell apart, opening us up to the vacuum of space?" She snaps sarcastically. "None of them have been fitted with the control chip yet, Francis, so shut up and-"

"Move," A different voice says, shoving Olivia aside. The voice is younger than the woman and male. "Yaz, hey-" His hands reach out to her. "-it's me, all right? I ain't dead, well-" He sighs. "-I know I don't look like myself at the moment, and trust me, cockle, that's bloody scary, but I ain't dead, still kicking around and all, probably could have another go at playing footie now!"

The words cockle and footie snaps Yaz back to reality, and she stares at the young man in front of her. His eyes are blue, and his hair is silver, making him look slightly older than his youthful face would suggest.

"I can see that you look confused."

Yaz frowns at him before widening her eyes to the size of saucers when it clicks into place. "Graham!?" She shouts. "What the-" She can't help but crack a smile at him. "-you've had a bit of work done!"

Graham settles himself on his heels, something he definitely couldn't do before he found the alien answer to ageing cream. He rubs the back of his head. "Yeah," He murmurs. "I woke up like this, nearly punched a hole through the wall in my shock."

Yaz takes a closer look at Graham. "You still have grey hair, though."

Graham shrugs. "Kinda worrying about a lot of other things right now, Yaz; my hair being grey is at the bottom of the list, if I'm honest."

"Sorry."

"Yeah," Graham runs his ageless hands down his young face. His expression is troubled. "I haven't looked like this for forty years, Yaz," He whispers in a low voice. "It doesn't make sense in my head 'cos I recognise myself when I look into one of the mirrors dotted around, but I don't see myself, not what I should look like."

Olivia comes back into view for Yaz, and she flicks her eyes between Graham and her. "Is this your friend?"

Yaz nods. "He's different-"

Olivia looks Graham up and down with an interested eye, and Graham frowns at her. "I thought you said he was sixty?"

"Well, he is, but-" Yaz gestures around her. "You said people have changed?"

Olivia hums, and Graham's frowns deeper; he watches her as she moves away when someone else begins waking up. "Why was she staring at me?"

"Uh," Yaz splutters because she's suddenly at a loss of how to tell Graham that the woman in question was giving him the quick once over. "Don't worry about it, Graham," She pats him on the arm. "Help me up, would you?"

"Oh, yeah," Graham snaps from his confusion and yanks Yaz to her feet faster than she expected. "Sorry-"

Yaz stares at Graham with a raised eyebrow. "I said help me up, not pull my arm off."

"Look," Graham gestures. "When I said I nearly punched a hole through the wall, I weren't pissing around, Yaz," He panics. "My bloody hand caused it to dent-"

"What?"

"I dunno," Graham paces. "I wake up like I'm back in the eighties; I damn well nearly smack my fist through metal; it's all kinda a shock right now." He breathes and faces her again. "Have you noticed anything, uh, weird?"

"Weird, how?"

"You know," Graham shuffles on his feet. "Like, can you do something? Cos I saw a bloke back there set himself on fire, and then he was fine after he figured out how to turn it off."

"On fire?"

"Yeah," Graham nods. "That doesn't even mention what any of the other people can do around here!"

Yaz thinks, and the only thing coming to her is Olivia's panicked look when she first woke up. She looks around for the woman and marches over to her, Graham just a step behind. "Sorry-"

Olivia turns to face her. "Yaz?"

"When I woke up, you mentioned something about me ripping a hole into this cell; what did you mean by that?"

Olivia pressed her lips into a thin line. "I'm not sure what you were granted, but when you thought your handsome friend was dead, you started to cause the space around you to quake."

"Handsome?" Graham mutters behind her, helpful as ever.

She ignores him. "Quake?"

"Yeah," Olivia nods to confirm. "If I had to take a guess, you have the power to harness vibration, but we would need to see you in action to decide what you have."

Yaz blinks at that. "You mean to say that I have a power? Like an actual power that I can use?"

Olivia pats her on the arm. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't, love," She glances behind Yaz to look at Graham. "Neither of you would be."


	2. Chapter 2

"Graham," Yaz slaps his hands away from himself for the fourth time in minutes. "For the last time, would you stop doing that? You're like a toddler," Graham scowls at Yaz, and she can't help the snort that escapes from her. "It's true at the moment."

"Oi," Graham's scowl intensifies. "You stop doing that."

"What?"

"Jokes about me being-" He gestures down himself. "-this."

Yaz forces her face to wipe the smile away. "Fine, but would you please stop poking yourself, Graham? You're going to; I don't know, irritate yourself or something."

"I'm hardly punching myself in the face, cockle," Graham retorts, thankfully keeping his hands in his lap this time. "I'm just, well, you don't wake up every day and find yourself four decades younger than what you should be, now, do ya?"

"And poking your arms and face and legs will solve this for you?"

"Okay, fine!" Graham pouts, looking very much like the age of his face right now. "I'll stop, but Yaz, I have muscle-" He says almost proudly. "-last time I had this was-"

"Four decades ago," Yaz recalls from the first six hundred times she heard it. "You didn't happen to also regress to somewhere in your twenties as well, did you?"

"What's that meant to mean?"

"Nothing."

Graham grunts at her and decides to pull his legs towards his chest, and people watch instead. "They stuck us all in the same clothes, which I'm none too happy about," He wriggles. "It's not that comfortable-"

Yaz presses her fingers to her temples, rubbing a circular motion into them. She likes Graham; he's like her grandad, but, and she means this with tremendous respect, he doesn't half complain. Honestly, she thought Sonya was terrible, but Graham takes the custard cream.

"-sorry." Yaz glances towards Graham, and she spots the expression on his face. "You probably wish you were stuck with Ryan or the Doc right about now 'cos I can't stop my complaining," He sighs. "What am I whinging about? I'm young again, my knees don't hurt, that constant ache in my lower back has vanished, and yet, I'm moaning about everything, probably driving you mental with it all."

"It's all right, Graham," Yaz reassures him. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?"

"Ain't it just," Graham exhales as he leans his head back against the wall in the corner they sort out for themselves. "Seems everyone that was here has woke up now."

Yaz flicks her eyes across the crowd; most of the people that woke up like them are sat on the floor, staring into the middle distance, while others, like Olivia and that Francis she shouted at, are moving around checking on them. She hums in thought.

"Yaz?"

She glances towards Graham before nodding her head in the direction of Olivia. "She seemed like she knew what she was talking about, Graham," Yaz points out now that she's thought about it. "And she's dressed a bit different than us, same with that bloke Francis and the others that are dotted around."

Graham stares at each person individually and then turns to Yaz again. "They got those gold shackle things on the left wrist."

"Maybe not shackles, Graham," Yaz frowns. "I heard her mention something about control chips and being vented into space."

Graham nods. "The bloke who helped me up told me off for smacking my hand into the side even though I hardly was gonna punch through the wall."

"Yeah-"

Graham furrows his brows at Yaz. The look on her face tells him she's thinking about something, maybe not ready to actually voice it yet, though. He'll give her time rather than press. "I have longer hair now," Yaz faces Graham and looks baffled by his statement. "Just thought I would point that out; I can ruffle it."

Yaz shakes her head and laughs, chuckling to herself before smiling when she spots the smirk on Graham's face. "Distracting me again?"

"Nah," He shrugs. "Just pointing that out, you know, I'm lucky that I just have longer hair and didn't get the awful barnet that I had back in the bleeding eighties."

"What did you have, Graham?" Yaz probes into his life. "Come on, tell me," Graham mumbles under his breath, and she rolls her eyes. "Speak louder."

"You know Wham!?"

"Of course," Yaz blinks at Graham like he's daft. "I do have a dad, you know."

"Point taken," Graham concedes with a bow of his head. "Well, suffice to say that I might've had a small little crush on George Michael-"

"Graham!" Yaz shrieks in surprise, her voice dragging the attention of their neighbours. "I'm surprised!"

"What?!" Graham stares at her with wide eyes. "I was allowed to have crushes, Yaz; I weren't a bloody nun."

"But George Michael," Yaz repeats. "A man."

Graham raises an eyebrow at Yaz. "So?" He shrugs. "Anyway, this is about my hair-"

"No, it's not now," Yaz no longer cares about the embarrassing haircut that Graham might've had, not when something far more interesting just landed in her lap. "Graham, are you-"

Graham exhales and screws his face up at Yaz. "A man is allowed to have a crush, Yaz, that's it."

Yaz leans back, wincing. "Did I push too much?"

"What?"

Yaz feels like she might've overstepped her mark for a moment. "Kinda was trying to force you to tell me, shouldn't have done that, sorry."

"It's fine," Graham shrugs, eyes darting away from her. "Anyway, all I was gonna say was that I had his hair 'cos I liked him, had the earing as well, the eighties were a wild time that I wasted on cheap booze and dumb decisions."

"You can redo them now," Yaz points out. "Back on Earth, might not be the eighties, but you could redo your twenties at least," She suggests with a reassuring look. "Me and Ryan might have to take you clothes shopping, though; you'll dress like a grandad otherwise."

"Because I am a grandad, Yaz," Graham reminds her. He taps his head. "In here at least, I wouldn't have a damn clue what you-" His brows frown as he thinks. "-zoomers! Yeah, zoomers, I heard Ryan saying it once, anyway; I wouldn't have a damn clue what your generation gets up to."

"Ah," Yaz realises in an instant. "You could learn from us, though?"

Graham looks to ponder her suggestion. "It's changed a lot, Yaz, I'm not sure," He states. "And I wouldn't know the first thing about-" He trails away, eyes suddenly unfocused and locked away from Yaz.

"Hey," Yaz shuffles herself towards him. "What's the matter?"

"I just-" Graham blinks and forces a smile onto his face. "-nothing, it's fine." He notices the narrowed eyes aimed at him, and he knows she hasn't brought that for a second, but he doesn't want to talk about it; he hardly wants to think about it.

How could he not realise? So caught up in everything that he never once considered what would actually happen when he got back to Earth. People would obviously ask questions if he rocked up at events he used to take part in; Gabe and Freddy would never believe that he's their sixty-year-old mate; they'd think he's a lad who lost his marbles or something else, like he's his own son or something.

Now that's a thought, being mistaken for your own son.

Luckily, or maybe not, the doors on the far side of the room have begun to slide open, dragging Graham's thoughts (And Yaz's attention) away from his panic at what they would do back on Earth and to the bug aliens that are piling in.

Yaz and Graham watch as Olivia and her friends start darting around, pulling people up to their feet and lining them in neat rows. They share a look with one another.

"Stay together?" Graham nods at her.

"Yeah," Yaz returns the gesture. "Stay together, come on," She reaches for Graham's hand and drags him over to a row situated in the middle.

"Smart choice," Graham murmurs to her left. "We can hear what's going on without being too close to them-"

"Yet," Yaz interjects. "Don't do anything stupid, Graham."

Graham snorts. "What do you take me more? I might not be as smart as Tesla, but I'd like to think I'm smarter than a plank of wood, love."

"I didn't say that-" Yaz mumbles under her breath; she sighs and stares ahead, watching as the bug aliens progress into the room. "What do you think they're doing?"

"Not got a scooby, Yaz," Graham replies. He's just that little bit taller than her. "They're just doing that chitter thingy."

Yaz leans around the people in front of them, eyes squinting at Olivia and the others that helped them up. "Look, Olivia and that lot are talking to them-"

"Think they're working with them?"

"I don't think so," Yaz glances back towards Graham. "They're like us, maybe they're-"

"What?"

Yaz sets her mouth into a grim line. "Maybe these aliens have done this before, and we're the latest batch," She frowns. "But if they've done this before, then why are they doing it again?"

Graham's eyes and expression match hers before he and Yaz face forward again when one of the bugs steps forth. Tall and different from the previous ones they saw, this one has wings draped down its back and is covered in rich coloured clothing.

"Humans," It croaks out in a mixture of clicks and chitters. "You belong to us-" Yaz and Graham flick their eyes across the crowd when a murmur of discontent emerges from them. "-the great Skari'Hex Empire, you should be honoured to be among our ranks."

"Scary-what now?" Graham shrugs at Yaz, hands gesturing in confusion. "Has the Doc ever mentioned that name?" She shakes her head at him and knocks him on the arm, forcing him to face forward once again.

"Forces within our army, gladiators for our areans, and slaves for our Queen-"

The discontent grows among the crowd, with many people growing restless, others stepping forward. Yaz drags Graham back, pulling him towards the far edges of the rows. She watches as Olivia steps forward, her skin glowing with green energy along the veins on her body. The humans that rushed forward have their legs grabbed in roots, pulling them towards the floor.

"She's working with them," Someone shouts from the crowd and Graham, and Yaz can't disagree with that assessment. "She's a double agent-"

"H-042, deal with them," The bug commands Olivia with a wave of its clawed hand. "Lesser species don't know gifts when they're given them."

Olivia grimaces, eyes narrowing and hands clenching at her side as she steps towards the people she grabbed. Distrust fills the eyes of the crowd. "You mustn't fight back-" She pleads. "-they can and will get rid of you."

The man that Olivia named Francis steps forward, his eyes glowing a dark purple colour. "Comply and survive, fight back and die," He instructs. "It is your choice."

That murmur from before rings through the crowd again. A brave person, or perhaps just daft, walks forward, and Graham remembers him as the fire guy. "What stops us from unleashing these so-called gifts on them right now?" He demands, smoke and heat steaming from his hands. "I could burn all of them."

Graham jumps in shock when the man freezes in space, his arms and head contorted into an uncomfortable position by Francis. "And I could rip you limb from limb with my mind right now," He states. "We have had years to practice what we were given; you have had mere hours," His voice softens towards the end, eyes flicking to Olivia. "Comply for your own sake."

The fire guy slumps to the floor, breathing hard, followed by the ones who had their legs wrapped in vines while the bug who spoke starts chittering and clicking once more, and Graham and Yaz watch as the other aliens start moving around the crowd, golden coloured shackles in their hands.

"Please don't resist," Olivia calls out to the crowd. She brings her own wrist up, allowing it to glint in the light. "They won't harm you."

"I somehow doubt that," Graham mutters as he eyes the bugs coming towards him and Yaz, but they both follow the orders given to them and extend their wrists outwards.

Yaz's left wrist is grabbed first, and they watch as the metal is wrapped around it, tightening to the point where she can't move it. It's not uncomfortable, and it doesn't hinder movement at all. She frowns down at it when a sequence appears upon it. It takes her attention away from Graham's shackle as she reads it.

"H-224?"

Graham glances towards her and then to his own shackle the moment the bugs shove them back into a line and move away. "I got H-245 on mine," He remarks. "That bug at the front called that Olivia lass a number like this."

"I don't like this, Graham," Yaz locks her eyes on his face, jumping for a moment because she forgot about the change. She winces when she spots that he noticed her flinch. "I think these are the control chips Olivia mentioned, which means-" She turns around and sees the same bands on the humans stood near the aliens. "-they're prisoners just like us, probably used to help make the transition easier for the new prisoners." Graham grunts, only half-listening to Yaz's theory as he fiddles with he bracelet. She nudges him and points forward. "Look-"

The alien with wings stands proud at the front of the group. "You are conscripted under the division of Paragon Shel'zath," It states. "Disobedience is punishable by death," The bugs behind Shel'zath bring the limbs into a formation, followed by Olivia and her units. "Long live our Empire, long live our Queen-"

Yaz looks at Graham and then back to Shel'zath. "I think we need to do it-"

"What?"

"Graham," She yanks on his arm. "Do what they're doing-"

Graham stares at Yaz, spotting the looks aimed at her when she copies the gesture. He sighs and follows her example. "I hope you're right about this-" A few of the humans nearby them join in, drawing the attention of Shel'zath.

"Maybe there is hope for some of you," It seems impressed judging by its voice, and that's enough for the rest to join in. The alien places its arms behind its back and stares ahead. "Long live our Empire, long live our Queen-"

"Long live our Empire, long live our Queen-" Echoes after the phrase, all of the humans present taken it as their queue to repeat for safety.

And just like that, the soldiers and Paragon are gone, leaving them alone with far more questions than answers.

"Hey-" A man tugs on Yaz's arm, pulling her towards him. "-how did you know-"

Graham strides forward, pulling the arm off Yaz and placing himself in front of her. "Don't touch her," He snaps. "You got a question, you ask it, but you don't just drag her over to you-"

The man squares up to Graham. "What are you? Her bodyguard?"

"Graham, leave it," Yaz rests a hand on his arm. "We're all in the same boat here, aren't we? Why don't we just try to get along?"

Graham nods and backs down. "Sorry," He mutters. "I didn't know what you were going to do to her and got worried for a second."

The man nods, stepping back as well. He looks older than Graham appears; wrinkles line his light brown forehead. "No, that's fair," He rubs a hand down his face, scratching it against his salt and pepper beard. "Long day, kidnapped when I was on my way home from work, woke up here-"

"We all were," Graham nods in understanding. "Me and Yaz were in a café before we were taken."

"Yeah," He nods back. "I'm Devin, by the way, and you are?"

"I'm Graham, and that's Yaz," Graham informs him and the crowd that has gathered around them. "We're, uh, family, hard to explain, but this isn't what I look like-" He gestures towards his face. "-and Yaz is like a granddaughter to me-"

"What do you mean?" A woman with horns upon her head and eyes black like the night sky questions. "You don't look old enough to be a grandad."

"I'm sixty, believe it or not," Graham reddens when he gains the attention of the group. "Uh-" He looks back towards Devin, wishing to change the subject. "-what did you want to ask my friend, mate?"

"Oh, yeah," Devin looks towards her. "How did you know to do what to do? The symbol-" He makes it with his hands. "-that thing."

"I watched what Olivia and Francis and the others were doing," Yaz shrugs, her face flushing like Graham's now are the attention given to them. "Thought that we should do it, just to make an impression, so they don't harm any of us."

"She's smart," A voice they know states, and the group turns to face Francis. "She'll get far in this, so if I were you lot, I'd take a leaf out of her book if you want to live long in this game," He stands tall. "Now go and get some rest because your new lives start tomorrow."

The crowd begins dispersing back to the areas they previously claimed.

Graham looks back towards Devin and offers a hand to him. "Come and stay in our corner if you want," He suggests. "There's more than enough room, and it'll be good to have friends here."

Devin smiles back and nods. "I'd like that," He sighs with relief. "Haven't had anyone to talk to; most here haven't-" He points out as they make their way back. "You two were lucky you were grabbed together; at least you have each other, a family," He stares towards the floor. "I have kids, two of them; they're probably going out of their minds with worry for me."

Graham glances towards the man and spots the emotion displayed across his older face. "We'll get out of here, promise you that."

"How?"

"Not got a plan yet," Yaz explains in a quiet voice. "But we know someone who will not stop looking for us," She reassures their new friend. "And I'm not sure these aliens will like her when she arrives."

**Author's Note:**

> I have taken the general idea of an Agents of Shield episode and applied it to my two favourites :)


End file.
